It Would Appear there is a Jake Thompson Burner Account

Andrew Knapp’s solo shot in the 13th inning was the headline grabber in the Phillies’ big 4-3 walkoff win yesterday against the Nationals, but there is no doubt that he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to play hero without the three shutout innings delivered by reliever Jake Thompson. The clutch performance was undoubtedly a bright spot for Thompson, who was recalled yesterday morning for the eighth time since making his Major League debut in August of 2016, in what has been an otherwise relatively underwhelming tenure since coming here as one of the key pieces of the Cole Hamels deal almost three years ago. But, as you probably could have guessed, three innings of shutout baseball from a middling reliever isn’t the story here. The story is what played out on Twitter during Thompson’s outing.

Shortly after the game ended, Twitter users @PhillyBoos and @TJSPhillies reached out to Crossing Broad with this interesting nugget:

Worth looking into, Kyle. 100% a burner account. If Jake Thompson is even worth your time, that is

Indeed, what we found after a brief look at the since deactivated @KeithKeith08 account was a series of tweets defending Thompson’s performance, criticizing the Phillies’ usage of him, and blaming other players when things didn’t go his way.

The account took exception to this tweet from The Good Phight’s John Stolnis:

I know Kapler has no choice here but a 3rd inning of Jake Thompson is suicide.

More from early last August after Thompson allowed seven runs in five innings of work in a 7-0 loss against the Angels:

There’s also this interaction that took place during a late February spring training against the Orioles in which a leadoff walk, catcher’s interference, balk, and wild pitch led to a run:

That’s next-level pettiness. If criticizing a catcher’s interference to excuse away a leadoff walk, balk, and wild pitch in a spring training game isn’t a dead give away that the account has a direct link to Thompson, I don’t know what it is. I guess it’s possible that @KeithKeith08 (Keith also happens to be Thompson’s middle name) just really likes what he brings to the table. Sure. Is it more likely that the account is linked to a Thompson friend or relative? Absolutely.

Specific tweets compared his production to that of Phillies ace Aaron Nola, lamented his inconsistent role with the team, and blamed teammates for poor performances. To be fair, this burner account drama isn’t of Bryan Colangelo levels. The account is most certainly not run by Thompson given the timing of several of the tweets, but unless he has a REALLY supportive fan out there, it was likely operated by a friend or relative of his. Does it make the account owner a bad person? Not really. I get wanting to defend someone you’re close to and all, but I’m not sure you’re going to change what fans think about someone by firing off some defensive and blame-deflecting tweets.

Who said baseball lacks drama?

SHARE THIS POST:

Bob Wankel covers the Phillies, breaking news, and sports gambling for Crossing Broad. He is also a producer and co-host of Crossed Up: A Phillies Podcast.
A South Jersey resident and graduate of Monmouth University, his past work includes six seasons as a freelance producer at NFL Films.
On Twitter: @BWCrossingbroad
E-mail: Bob@crossingbroad.com

Really Kyle, I think your time would be better spent making fake dog shirts
and shilling them to the general public and pocketing the money.
As opposed to lane johnson and the NFL who gave their dog shirt money to childrens charity.

The Stillers haven’t won shit in 10 years, and once Ruthlessbanger retires their window slams shut. They’re on their way to becoming the Cowboys, a bunch of bandwagon fans with no championships left to chase.